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UV Device Kills Computer Keyboard Bacteria

Germ Genie (Falcon Innovations)

(Falcon Innovations)

Environmental tests at University of Hertfordshire in the U.K. support claims that a device for killing bacteria on computer keyboards works as advertised. The university’s Biodet lab tested the Germ Genie made by Falcon Innovations in High Wycombe, U.K., and reported the results at recent industry and academic meetings.

The results of the university’s tests on E. Coli, Staphylococcus Aureus, and Bacillus Subtillis indicate that Germ Genie kills 99 percent of germs across most of the keyboard in just two minutes, and across the whole keyboard in ten minutes. The device works by sensing finger movement on the computer keyboard, and after the user has finished it sanitizes the keyboard with ultraviolet (UV) light.

This treatment leaves the keyboard of a shared computer, such as at a library or hospital, ready for the next user. The UV treatment keeps the keyboard from picking up microbes that would otherwise have posed a risk of passing on infections. And depending on the number of users, Germ Genie sanitizes the keyboard multiple times each day, after each user.

The university’s Biodet lab provides services for testing water and air for pathogens, as well as indoor and outdoor air quality. The lab also tests for conditions in structures such as Sick Building Syndrome and Legionnaires’ Disease.

Read more: CDC Awards Grants to Reduce Health Care Infections

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